Louis' Legacy

On Sunday, my pastor shared a sermon illustration that I found personally impactful. It was about Louis Pasteur, the French scientist who became famous for his advances in immunology and especially for inventing the process of pasteurizing milk. But of all the things he could have asked to have inscribed on his tombstone, he requested these three words: Joseph Meister Lived. Why? Because when Joseph was just nine years old, he was repeatedly bitten by a rabid dog and was the first-ever recipient of Pasteur’s experimental immunization against rabies. Not only did the young boy survive the 100% fatal disease, but he went on to become the caretaker for the Louis Pasteur Institute. Of all his discoveries in immunology, Pasteur was most proud of having found this antidote for rabies.

What hit me personally about this story is that Pasteur could just as well have put on his tombstone: Jon Lewis Lived. Why? Because in 1984 when I was serving as mission pilot with MAF in Zaire, Africa, I too was attacked by a rabid dog and received multiple bites all over my right hand and arm. Fortunately, I was living at a mission hospital station at the time that had a fresh supply of the anti-rabies serum on hand. With a 10 cc dose of the stuff in my derriere, I was no worse for the wear for the incident.

My pastor’s point with this illustration was about the legacy we leave behind us as a result of our words and deeds. We simply never know how our actions today might have a ripple effect in the lives of other people down the road. It’s sobering for me to think that but for this legacy of Louis Pasteur, I would not be here typing this blog today. And that legacy doesn’t just stop with me either. A few weeks after my rabies incident, we got an emergency call from a remote jungle village explaining that a young girl had also been attacked by a rabid dog. They desperately needed to have some of the rabies vaccine flown to them. The only problem was there was no airstrip at that village. So I volunteered to make the flight and do an “air drop.” Packing the small vial of vaccine in plenty of padding, I came in low over the village and dropped the precious medicine as best I could onto the center of a soccer field. We heard later over the radio, the little girl recovered just fine.

Louis Pasteur was proud of having saved one life. I wonder if he ever had any idea how many other lives would be saved thanks to the healing legacy he left behind. What a great inspiration for all of us to leave legacies, whether words of encouragement, good deeds, positive examples, or sharing the Gospel that could have similar ripple effect in the years to come. 

Jon